Maryland Patient Safety Center

For more information, or to apply for participation in the Perinatal Neonatal Quality Collaborative, contact: Support@marylandpatientsafety.org

Perinatal Neonatal Quality Collaborative

Previously sponsored by the Maryland Department of Health, the Perinatal Neonatal Quality Collaborative (PNQC) was brought under the leadership of the Maryland Patient Safety Center in 2006. The mission of the PNQC has evolved, and is now to create perinatal and neonatal units that deliver care safely and reliably with zero preventable adverse outcomes. Additionally there has been a concentration to include improving teamwork and communication through the implementation of team behaviors, including the family, into care.

The PNQC leads quality improvement initiatives, provides education for OB and infant care and manages a large listserv for sharing of best practices, standards of care, resources, networking. Over the years the PNQC has conducted quality improvement initiatives to:

  • Reduced early (<39 weeks) elective delivery rates in Maryland
  • Improved care for infants less than 1500 grams in the first hour of life- the “Golden Hour”
  • Reduced low risk first time C-Sections
  • Improved care for infants with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome resulting in lower NICU stays and transfers of infants way from their mothers to other hospitals for care.
  • Begun work to improve care for pregnant women with opioid use disorder
  • Begun work to better educate and model safe sleep practice for infants in Maryland hospitals.

Any questions about any of these initiatives may be directed to programs@marylandpatientsafety.org

Maryland Patient Safety And the Alliance for Innovation in Maternal Health (AIM)

In 2015, MPSC applied on behalf of the Perinatal Neonatal Quality Collaborative to the Alliance for Innovation in Maternal Health (AIM) for Maryland to become an “AIM State” (see: www.safehealthcareforeverywoman.org). AIM is a program supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to reduce maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity in the United States. This program develops bundles of evidence-based action steps for birth facilities to adopt. Maryland—through the MPSC application—became the second state in the country to be designated as an AIM state. Maryland was the first state to implement the bundle on , and hopes to resume work on the  OB Care for Women with Opioid Use Disorder bundle.

Maryland Patient Safety Center Sub-Awardee In Maryland Maternal Innovation Grant 

MPSC recently became a sub-awardee of the $10.3 million five-year HRSA Maternal Health Innovation Program grant awarded to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Under this grant, MPSC will utilize its strong relationships with Maryland birthing hospitals to coordinate trainings on implicit bias and stigma related to opioid use disorder and quality improvement education for maternal units in the State. Participation in this grant, with the project name MD MOM ( http://www.mdmom.org ), will provide additional training opportunities and resources to the birthing hospitals.